Wednesday, February 29, 2012

In anticipation of their first US tour, which launches this Sunday in New York, Acéphale announces a remix package for Korallreven's latest single - the Julianna Barwick featuring, "Sa Sa Samoa." A song that may or may not be about their favorite Girl Scout Cookies: Samoa's.

Released for free over the coming weeks, the set includes an extended version of the track by Korallreven themselves, along with reinterpretations from forward-thinking newcomers Arca, UNKNOWN, and Recycle Culture. To kick things off, here's a remix from Minneapolis' Elite Gymnastics that pairs Barwick's choral loops with hardcore breakbeats, accelerating them into hyperdrive. And then there's that KLF/JAMs referencing Whitney sample!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Swedish duo The Sweet Serenades released their debut album Balcony Cigarettes in 2009. After the release, they toured Europe, found themselves featured on Grey’s Anatomy and received critical acclaim from around the globe.

Despite living the rock and roll dream for a brief period of time, the last year hasn't been exactly the best for this almost brotherly duo. The band nearly ran out of money and ended up spending time in various basements and even their moldy band trailer in an effort to save money while writing songs and recording them. Now completed, the band hopes to emerge from the mildew with a new record.

Inspired by Gary Glitter, My Sharona, ACDC, The Strokes and Arcade Fire. Their high-energy-pop is sure to lift the spirits of fans and themselves. The brand new single, "Moving On," is an energetic workout of floor toms, shout backs and catchy, energetic guitars. This is the first taste from the upcoming album Help Me! to be released in the spring of 2012.

During endless rehearsals for a Flamenco theatre-dance piece under the hot sun of southern Spain, DJ Dustbowl and musician and singer Dejot come up with the concept for Filewile, – following a strict DIY strategy. Music, production, distribution, concerts, merchandise – all done by themselves… enjoy all the freedom, take all the responsibility. Disappointment from previous project and the current state of the music business leave none but this way forward.

From 2003 - 2011, Filewile has been on a wild ride including releasing an album, tours around the world, playing in obscure places, teaming up with everyone including your Uncle Joe, starting a record label, remixing more artists than legally allowed, and somehow someway managing to find a way to record new material.

With a sound that borrows from pop, electro, house, chillwave, and just about everything in between it's no wonder that Filewile has been as successful as they've been. They're latest release Rewile is an uncompromising package of remixes from artists that are either friends with the group or worked with Filewile somewhere along their epic journey. The record is amazing. It's got something for everyone and is a brilliant tapestry of electronic sounds that will mesmerize and move.

What would happen if you took the “Queen of House” and teamed her up with the “Queen of Beatz”? Well if you were to lock them in a studio, give them something to eat and drink and wait a few weeks out would come Durstlöscher. And out they would come, this German duo is set to take over clubs and dance floors worldwide with its incredible and inimitable sound they call “Neuer Deutscher Elektro”.

Durtlöscher consists of Juice magazines “rap” No. 1 producer from 2004-07 and 2009 Melbeatz and Alexandra Prince, who has lent her lyrics to worlwide clubsmashs such as Gadjo’s “So Many Times” and worked with top house players as Syke ‘N’ Sugarstarr, Henrik B, Steve Angello among others. together they are like fire and brimstone or as they would say in Deutschland: “Raketenpulver” who have mingled together their musical influences.

The result is hi-nrg electro with punchy guitar lines that are set to boil over. Durtlöscher is heavy stuff that blurs the line between dance, goth, metal, and chaos. Somewhere right now, Trent Reznor is pretty pleased with himself.

Villa Kang is a mysterious project that is headed by a producer/songwriter in Toronto who works under the Villa Kang name with a revolving collective of underground producers, artists and filmmakers. The project's aim is to experiment with different genres of electronic music and publish what happens as a result of those experiments.

They are a relatively new collective and in fact, are so new, there's very little information about them. What we do know isn't much: Thus far two singles have been released and both were produced in collaboration with Luminary Youth (An indie hip/hop producer Tampa, FL). We also know that the group has yet to perform live but hopes to once the first official EP is released on June 12th.

As for what the two singles sound like. Villa Kang have come up with the perfect soundtrack for rainy days, Sunday mornings, cold days, and lazy days in bed. This is chill wave that's half asleep. It's lush, gorgeous, and ridiculously good. They may be new, but the songs they've come up with thus far sound mature beyond their years. Villa Kang might not klang about but they do make one sweet racket.

For the second release on Body Work, the label looked to the shady duo of Waze & Odyssey. Appearing out of nowhere at the very end of last year via a series of clips on Soundcloud, Waze & Odyssey caught the imagination of a lot of people. Their debut release came out in January on PetFood and along with this release on Body Work they also have several other EPs lined up on Wolf Music, Southern Fried and more.

The C'Mon EP, is three tracks of quality house music that recall the best of 90s NY house and garage. This is music for us old timers and gets down like a pensioner on acid. If you remember when wobbly bass lines were surrounded by seductive melodies (unlike today), you'll love Waze & Odyssey.

Vato Gonzalez is back, creating an underground buzz with Digital Lies on Fatboy Slim's Southern Fried Records before he drops his official follow up to Badman Riddim.

"Youtube, Twitter and Facebook; do we all live digital lives - or digital lies?" Inspired by the enormous amount of self-fabricated hype around mediocre events and copy/paste music - Vato Gonzalez & Aldair Silva keep it real deep with this dark and techy tune, showcasing the versatility of the Dirty House bastard as a producer.

In advance of their debut full length album, Isle of Dogs (April 9, 2012), east London indie poppers Tigercats have released the first single from the album, Full Moon Reggae Party.

"Full Moon Reggae Party" was written in one day after an enforced absence from the studio, and recorded just a couple of days later. It's about going on the run ("I heard you stole a van, we've got some fake Gaugin's, let's go and get the cash, dance to Two Sevens Clash") but it's also the most direct love song they've ever done. A lot of Tigercats' lyrics are constructed out of fleeting, disconnected imagery, but "Full Moon Reggae Party" speaks straight to it's subject.

It's all a bit shambolic and about as un-reggae as you could hope. Catchy, twee, and really good the song will have you wanting to attend a Full Moon Reggae Party. While the album release is over a month away, this fantastic bit of indie pop should hold you until then.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Finnish band, Indian Trails was formed in early 2011, after 5 years of musical experiments by Nico Henry and Antti Mikael. The project started as a "Let's do little bit more laid-back music, with dancey vibe." It worked out very well, and the present form of Indian Trails formed about 2months ago.

With additional members joining over the last couple of months the band finally felt complete. Now ready to record and with songs in tow, the band plans on heading to the studio to record their debut EP in April.

They might be brand new, but they have a maturity beyond their, um, months together. The few songs they have are swirly, angular, and dancetastic. If the Futureheads were Finnish, their name would be Indian Trails. With songs such as these, their future looks ridiculously bright. Here's hoping we can follow those Indian Trails...

Computer Magic is the solo project of 22-year-old DJ/blogger Danielle, aka her blog handle Danz. She started making music as Computer Magic last year in the little downtime she had between school, DJing, and graphic designing.

Danielle creates a unique brand of bedroom electronic pop music that feels equally whimsical, claustrophobic, and ethereal. Her music is inspired by the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner if you know the movie), a quality that makes sense after repeated listens. Currently in studio, she is busy putting the finishing touches on her upcoming debut album for Kitsuné.

As a nice little preview, Danielle will release Orion, a 5 track EP on Kitsuné, mixing a delicate cosmic sound and her graceful voice for the perfect blend of bedroom synth-pop.

Brooklyn-based band/art/performance collective JD Samson + MEN release their new Next EP today, Tuesday February 21! Self-produced with help from Jordan Lieb, who also worked on the debut album Talk About Body, the Next EP is self-released via JD Samson + MEN’s label MEN Make Music and made available via all digital platforms and the 3-track EP is also available on tour as a 200 Limited Edition with handmade screen-printed sleeves.

This year, the band will release 4 EPs. The next JD Samson + MEN EP All the Way Thru will be released this Spring with production work from Alex Suarez from Cobra Starship, and subsequent EP releases produced by XXXChange (Spankrock, The Kills) and JD Samson + MEN themselves. These four EP releases are true to the unique, non-conformative and collaborative style of earlier MEN productions, such as the partnership for a tour only split 7" with Brazil's CSS, and “Who Am I to Feel So Free” feat Antony (from Antony & The Johnsons).

Next will be available to download through the 28th. So hop to it folks, before the gettin' is gone.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

It took a pretty special occasion to bring Black Tambourine out of retirement, even temporarily, and the 20th birthday of BT singer Pam Berry's Chickfactor magazine is definitely such an occasion. When the band were discussing the rather complicated logistics (members scattered across two continents) for the reunion shows, the thought of maybe doing some new recordings came to mind. The band quickly agreed that a tribute to one their favorite bands would be a fun project, and of course the Ramones jumped to the top of the list.

After choosing which songs to work on, the band recorded using the same methodology as they did for the bonus tracks on their self-titled 2010 compilation LP. The gentlemen in the band convened in Maryland to lay down the music, the rough mixes were sent to Pam in London so she could add her inimitable vocals, and then the resulting recordings were sent back to Maryland for Archie to mix.

The final result is OneTwoThreeFour, a double 7" and download EP featuring Black Tambourine's versions of four of their most-loved Ramones tunes. Released on May 15th, the record will be handled by Slumberland and will be available via the usual outlets.

Friday, February 17, 2012

On the surface, TacocaT may seem to be all about tacos, cats, fluorescent highlighters, reverb, great hair, gum, and tambourines, but that's just to throw you. That's frosting. Through clever social and political commentary via pop culture references and a relentless emphasis on positivity, this grrrl-fronted palindrome transcend pop-punk pigeonholing while never forgetting their primary mission: FUN.

Seattle's resident punk charmers TacocaT have officially gone from "It's Complicated" to "In a Relationship With" Hardly Art and it's a relationship we hope lasts a long, long time.

These spiky indie popsters take politics and punk rock charm, twee it up a bit and charge through songs like they were on a permanent sugar high. They've just released their latest record, Take Me to Your Dealer EP. While it has a dubious name, the record packs four punchy, indelible pop ditties onto one limited edition 7" that's ridiculously addictive and so sweet you'll want to hug it after it slaps you across the face.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Though New Zealand’s Cairo Knife Fight is only comprised of two men, between the tom-tom attack of drummer/lead vocalist/bass synth man Nick Gaffaney and the blood-drenched axe work of guitarist and loop pedal genius Aaron Tokona this duo deliver a tidal wave of complete sound that is both hallucinatory and imbued with an intense sense of urgency.

In a recent interview, Gaffaney likened what they do to guerrilla warfare, turning their weakness into strengths in all respects. We could not agree more. And the proof is in the riff-churned pudding. In this case, their new four-track EP Cairo Knife Fight II. The record is a massive, chest thumping, and blood curdling experience with razor sharp precision.

This is well-practiced recklessness at it’s best, and Cairo Knife Fight know just how far to push it before reigning in the assault. We suspect though at some point it's all going to go horribly wrong and some sort of mega-apocalyptic scenario involving power chords and drums will be unleashed. Prepare yourself now...this is one Fight you can't escape from.

Through stream-of-consciousness aural atmospherics, Lance Herbstrong takes you on a trip, sustaining musical momentum with sonic layers propelling the rhythms. The result is music that is ethereal and organic, of the air and of the earth, and always moving. The nation’s most esteemed climate change scientists described their first Lance Herbstrong show as a ‘motherf---ing Fun Bomb that just goes off inside you.

If that wasn't enough Lance has taken one of the greatest Queen songs ever and roughed it up a bit and somehow, someway, seemingly made the song seem heavier. This is a fantastic re-work that pays loving tribute to the original while roiding it up. Featuring former Porno for Pyros member Peter DiStefano on guitar this is like the best dance metal crossover thing ever.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Byron is a very interesting character; successful as part of Nine High in Australia, he's formerly an English teacher with a passion for lyrics and storytelling fuelled by his desire to say something about his suburban surroundings in a very raw, yet eloquent way.

From middle-England Slough, this is a place that infiltrates everything Byron does and everything he says. His frustration at his surroundings and the things he sees culminate in intelligent and informed stories with an articulate delivery and razor-sharp wit.

The release of 'Deep Lyrics, Dirty Beats 1' last year made everyone from The Independent to SBTV sit up and take notice and now Byron is taking things to the next level with 'Deep Lyrics, Dirty Beats 2.' You can download the whole damn thing below for free. Well worth your time...trust us.

Originally a side project of sorts, twins Jaymes and Tegan Voltaire became the Voltaire Twins after winning the Triple J Unearthed Parklife competition in 2008 and receiving a personal invitation to support Ladytron. Fast forward a few years and with a single and EP release under their belt, the band has now toured Australia numerous times and played everywhere else at least once.

Last fall, the indie/electro foursome released the Romulus EP throughout Australia and it's just now arriving on these shores. Better late than never, the EP is a melodic treat that features syrupy sweet boy/girl harmonies, lush synths, and choruses that will linger for ages. It's fantastic stuff that's slightly dark, texturally rich, and sounds like they spent a million dollars on it. Not bad for a brother sister team up then.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Fresno, California band The Quiet Americans are anything but quiet. This loud fuzzed out band was formed in 2010 by songwriter Luke Giffen and drummer Eli Reyes. The Quiet Americans combine bright melodies and animal like drums with fuzzed out guitar squall. Sort of like Link Wray meets Dinosaur jr. filtered through an echo chamber.

The six song EP Medicine is their first release and is out on local cassette collective Coattrack Records. The recording of Medicine was a family affair, Eli is married to Luke’s sister, and Luke’s little brother Ross contributed moog synth to the record. The entire record was tracked to an old Tascam 8 track reel to reel recorder, in their practice space and sounds like the best thing ever recorded on it.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Edmonton's Cygnets is the culmination of many years of hard work, as songwriter and musician Logan Turner worked privately writing and recording hundreds of songs before deciding to explore a group dynamic. This collaboration was finally realized in close friends Chris Bruce and Dan Snow. Bringing textured, inspiring guitar work and bright, catchy synthesizer hooks, they compliment and enhance Turner’s ambitious songwriting style and singular, melodic vocals.

Quite possibly the best British band who aren't actually British. Cygnets are one pogotastic, jumpy, synthpop band who take 80's new wave, The Futureheads, and maybe even Depeche Mode smash it all together and come up with songs like, "Teenager." It's fantastic stuff that's jumpy, nervous, and as catchy as the flu.

The forthcoming follow up LP ‘Dark Days’, due for release on March 6th will also be available at absolutely no cost. If the whole thing is as good as "Teenager," we're in for a treat!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

LANCELOT is the new project from 21 year‐old Sydney producer Lance Gurisik.

Formerly recording as AEONS, in 2011 Lance dropped the drums, kicked aside the USB keyboards and embedded himself in the studio to create his own dense style of house music.

With a fetish for analogue gear, Lance draws upon his broad knowledge of classical music styles and forms while recording and writing for dance floors – the result sitting somewhere between new‐wave pop and downtempo, tropical house. I'm happy to report there's not a dub or step in sight and it's fucking marvelous.

For the past 3 years Lance has been composing orchestral music, studying at the elite Sydney Conservatory of Music.

After hours, Lance snuck into the faculty recording studios, laying down a swathe of well‐regarded, official remixes for artists including New Navy (Future Classic), Toucan, Fabian (Binary), Penguin Prison, Sparkadia (Ivy League), Faker (EMI), Tim and Jean (Universal) and Fallulah (Sony DE). This winter he recorded three original tunes for the upcoming We Can Dance EP.

Now, with a freshly framed graduation certificate and sharp new hair‐cut to boot, LANCELOT is plunging straight into the club.

LANCELOT’sWe Can Dance EP is set for digital‐release worldwide on LA‐based label Binary (Fabian,
Keenhouse, Nightwaves) on Beatport on February 20th, followed by a worldwide release on March 5th.

LA-based Superhumanoids are pleased to announce that they will be supporting Active Child and Balam Acab on their upcoming North American tour. The dates will follow previously announced tours supporting Cold War Kids and Class Actress. A full list of dates is below.

Superhumanoids make dreamy pop that shouts summery '60s harmonies, garage rock's raw tonality, slick new-wave electronics, and the adventurous dissonance of '90s indie rock. Originally the solo bedroom project of Cameron Parkins, the LA band quickly evolved into a multifaceted outfit featuring Sarah Chernoff (Vocals and keys), and Max St. John (Bass, vocals, and programming)

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Cultfever is J. Peter Durniak and Tamara Jafar, two artists whose chance encounter in a Manhattan recording studio spawned a musical partnership of two distinct voices connecting over a shared vision in sound. Within a few months of their first meeting, Durniak, an audio engineer at the studio, and Jafar, an audio intern at the studio and political activist, decided to move in together, converting their apartment living room into a shared studio space. Soon after, late-night recording sessions and musical sketches began to evolve into the songs that make up their eponymous debut.

During the recording process, the duo conceived of the album as a series of cinematic vignettes rather than trying to focus the project around a narrowly tailored theme. Giving themselves that space to explore they now have a better idea of the strengths and weaknesses in the interplay of their individual tastes and styles.

The end result of this experiment is a collection of nine distinct tracks, ranging from the atmospheric textures of album opener “Knewyouwell” and mid-album highlight “Devil in the Drum” to the bombast and unhinged romanticism of “Spill” and closing track “Collector.” Fantastic stuff all around. Hear for yourself....

It's been a long, long time since I've heard anything from The Mary Onettes. They may have recorded a few albums since I last heard them, I have no idea. But I was pretty well pleased with Labrador alerted me to the fact that they have returned with a new album. After I did a happy dance, I figured the right thing to do was to share this good fortune with you guys.

The Mary Onettes new record, Love Forever sees the band hooking up with an outside producer for the first time. Produced by Dan Lissvik, the record is out on February 28th on digital and limited edition vinyl.

Gone is the echoing reverb, the 80's guitars and the big, splashing drums. "Love Forever" the lead track is a wonder of genre-blurring fearlessness drawing on ambient textures, avant-garde rhythms and intricate arrangements. It's a song that soars Heavenward on the vocals and ethereal guitar work. While it reminds me a bit of the Cure on a sunny day, it's a bit of a departure and the first sign that Spring is right around the corner. It's beautiful stuff that only a Swede pop band could record.

Disclaimer

MP3s on the POP! Stereo are available for a limited time only and are intended for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, or read about support the artists by actually purchasing their albums, going to shows, and buying their merchandise.

If you own copyright to one of the songs posted and would like it removed, email us at djpaulpop@yahoo.com.